Sam Harris on Sarah Palin - Average Isn't Good Enough

A few selected quotes from a recent Los Angeles Times article by Sam Harris on Governor Sarah Palin.

The actuarial tables on the Social Security Administration website suggest that there is a better than 10% chance that McCain will die during his first term in office. Needless to say, the Reaper’s scything only grows more insistent thereafter. Should President McCain survive his first term and get elected to a second, there is a 27% chance that Palin will become the first female U.S. president by 2015.

McCain has so little respect for the presidency of the United States that he is willing to put the girl next door (soon, too, to be a grandma) into office beside him. 

In response to a greater than average amount of negative feedback, what follows is part of an addendum to the LA Times article Harris posted this on his website:

So, let me simply declare that I would be overjoyed to have a qualified woman in the White House. I would, likewise, be overjoyed to have a qualified African American in the White House. In fact, I would be overjoyed to have a qualified WASP man in the White House. I will be guardedly optimistic to have a very smart (and somewhat qualified) Barack Obama in the White House. And I would be frankly terrified to have a religious bumpkin like Sarah Palin in the White House. I think you should share this last conviction. Hence my latest opinion piece.

Politics as Usual?

Radley Balco has some very interesting questions for John McCain and Barack Obama.

Here's a sample:

To Barack Obama -

In February, you said you might support vouchers and charter schools if empirical data showed that they improve education (some studies show that they do). Admirably, your position was, "I will not allow my predispositions to stand in the way of making sure that our kids can learn." After pressure from the teachers unions, you quickly backed off from that position, stating that your campaign doesn't support vouchers "in any shape or form." What prompted that change? And if it's important that we not "throw up our hands" and "walk away from the public schools," why do you send your own kids to private schools?

To John McCain -

In 1989, your wife Cindy became addicted to the prescription drugs Percocet and Vicodin. Eventually, she began stealing medication from the non-profit medical charity she ran to assist the victims of war and disaster areas. You and your wife were able to negotiate a settlement with the Justice Department that let her off with restitution and admission to a rehabilitation center, but no fines, jail time or even public disclosure. Certainly no one could fault you for trying to save your spouse from criminal sanction. But you're consistently one of the most strident drug warriors in Congress. You've voted to strengthen penalties against those who use and traffic in both illicit drugs and who divert prescription drugs. You've supported mandatory minimums and harsher penalties for first-time offenders. Why shouldn't average people without powerful connections who make the same mistakes your wife made be shown the same leniency and mercy the criminal justice system showed her?

Thanks to Russell Roberts of Cafe Hayek for the pointer.

Some Musings on Libertarianism and my Ever-Evolving Political Views

In respone to my First in Freedom post, Sid writes:

Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors? How appropriate since the Libertarian regulation-free ideal would allow smokers inside the hospital doors. That doesn't matter quite as much as the fact that the hospital would be able to refuse care for any reason, including age, race, or sex. And those locked out of the hospital doors may have no other choice since Libertarian ideals permit monopolies. The real irony is that some of the people would become ill from the irresponsible waste disposal policies of the hospital. After all, the Libertarians believe that the government should restrict such things.

Libertarianism always sounds nice on the surface. But they fail to recognize a few things. First, free markets cease to be free the moment monopolies appear. They eliminate a pillar of a truly free market - customer choice. Second, the free market has no morality. Companies are often more profitable without pollutions controls and work place safety and with child labor. Thirdly, lack of regulation in the financial industry would permit dangerously amplified boom-bust cycles that could result in a collapse of the financial system. Finally, government welfare programs are more stable then any charity based on voluntary contributions could ever be. Given a widespread downturn in the economy, charitable giving would naturally decrease just when that aid was most needed.

My response:

Thanks for the comment - you raise some interesting points.

First I'd like to clarify that I'm not what you might categorize as a true free market Libertarian. My political identity is still evolving but I would generally describe my views as socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Often times when you add those two together they equal a Libertarian.

Many of the issues you raise are definitely worth considering. I don’t intend to address each point you make here but I will tackle a few.

First I’ll begin with government welfare systems since that is one area that I feel strongly about. For starters, if shifting away from government welfare programs led to a net decrease in charity I would lose no sleep over it. I have the right to give all of my money to charity or none at all. The government’s ability to control what should otherwise be my discretionary income should be severely, if not completely, limited.

Since you attacked some positions that I don’t necessarily hold I’ll raise one that you didn’t address. Fair enough? ;) I am definitely for the legalization of all drugs. Marijuana should be treated as alcohol is today, except that the drinking / smoking age should be lowered (probably to 16 or eliminated altogether) and there shouldn’t be any regulation over the naming of the label (there actually is if you weren’t aware already). I think hard drugs, like heroin, should be intelligently regulated. That is to say that advertising for them would be severely limited and a doctor’s prescription would be required for all purchases.

It should be noted that my positions are tentative and will likely change due to further education and introspection. I’ll definitely post more about these issues in the future so stay tuned!

Factoid: Unlikely Interest in U.S. Presidential Race

According to a recent Pew Global Attitudes survey of over 24,000 people in 24 different countries, the Japanese were found to be the most highly interested in the U.S. Presidential race.

The survey, conducted March 17 to April 21, reveals national favorability ratings, economic trends, and other global attitude statistics. The full report including a detailed analysis of the results can be downloaded here. Or, check out pewglobal.org.